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Friday, December 26, 2014

2014 Rereads and Classics List Wrap Up

I completed my 2014 List of Books to Reread and Classics I Want to Read! (The 2015 List will be coming next week) So I thought I would do a little wrap-up of the books I read for this challenge and my thoughts on them. I really loved making a list of top priority classics and rereads, and the list definitely helped motivate me to read all these books, especially the rereads which can get pushed to the side sometimes.

Classics

Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte -- Rating: 5/5-- Review-- Quick thoughts: I loved Jane as a character, and I loved her quest for independence. She refused to live a life anything less than what she knew she deserved and is an admirable woman to this day, but especially for her time period.

On The Road, Jack Kerouac-- Rating: 4/5--Review-- Quick thoughts: This book was beautifully written. The writing is so simple, true, and poetic. The characters are so interesting and truly flawed; knowing they were real literary figures really enhanced the reading experience for me. I'm eager to read more of Kerouac's works. This book also inspired my first Literary Look post on The Beatnik Generation.

The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde-- Rating: 4/5-- Review-- Quick thoughts: I love Oscar Wilde, so it was no surprise that I was mesmerized by the beautiful writing in this book. The plot is a little slow, Wilde goes off an a few tangents, but who cares when the writing is exceptional. This novel presented so many thoughts and ideas about art and the artist and the audience of art and I loved the atmosphere. Wilde is a genius- there's nothing else to say.

Persuasion, Jane Austen-- Rating: 5/5-- Review-- Quick Thoughts: Austen is the Queen of Marriage Plots with Meaning. I have loved both the books by her that I have read and I can't wait to read the rest of her works. This book was funny, witty, and featured another unapologetically independent female lead. The romance was sweet, yet very practical, and the suspense while waiting for them to get together almost killed me!

A Room of One's Own, Virginia Woolf-- Rating: 5/5-- Review-- Quick thoughts: This was my first piece by Woolf and I can't wait to read more. This short essay was so full of sass and spunk, and I loved what she had to say about the woman artist, and the lack of respect they are given. I'm hoping to dive into some of Woolf's fiction this year.

Rereads

The Bell Jar, Sylvia Plath-- Rating: 5/5-- Reread Thoughts-- Quick Thoughts: This book is one of my favorites and it became an instant favorite after my first reading of it. This time I annotated my copy and really took the time to appreciate Plath's genius. I also read a lot of her poetry this year, which really offered new insights into this work and how I think about this work. I will be rereading this book many times in the future.

Paper Towns, John Green-- Rating: 5/5-- Reread Thoughts-- Quick Thoughts: I swapped out An Abundance of Kathrines for this one off of my original rereads list this year. I read this one for one of my lit classes and of course thoroughly enjoyed it. This is my favorite Green novel and I have endless things to say about it. It's so funny, and yet so important and thought provoking.

Rules of Civility, Amor Towles-- Rating: 5/5-- Reread Thoughts-- Quick Thoughts: One of my favorite books of all time. I plan to read this book every year. Beautiful writing and a beautiful look at fate, chance, and timing set in New York in 1938.

Deenie, Judy Blume-- Rating: 5/5 in a nostalgic childhood favorite way-- Quick Thoughts: This was always my favorite Judy Blume book as a kid. I read a lot of my mom's old copies of them, so to me they are extra special. Love the new look her books are getting, and I think they are still great and always will be great for young girls to read.

The Fault in Our Stars, John Green-- Rating: 5/5 of course-- Quick Thoughts: It's so hard for me to write my thoughts about this book in an organized way. I do think about this book a lot, and despite the mega-hype that can sometimes kill a book, I think this book is a great piece of art and a great young adult read. This is another book that I will continue to reread throughout my life.

Wuthering Heights Classics Illustrated Graphic Novel-- Quick Thoughts: I decided to do my reread of this Bronte novel in graphic novel form and really liked it. I really love the original novel, and want to reread the original very soon, but thought this little graphic novel captured the tone and desperation of this novel pretty well. I love that this novel is about unlikable characters and how different of a reading experience that is for the reader. I'm really hoping to read more graphic novel adaptations of classic novels in the future.

Be sure to check back next week to check out my list of classics and rereads for 2015!